NFL Week 5 Parlay Picks Expert Analysis

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2021 NFL Predictions Week 5

After upset wins by the New York Jets and Giants on Sunday, there’s just one winless team in the NFL remaining entering Week 5: the Detroit Lions. They probably aren’t winning this Sunday, either, as 8-point underdogs at Minnesota. Here are two other Week 5 games we would parlay together NFL odds.

Giants at Cowboys (-8)

Dallas won its third straight game Sunday, 36-28 over Carolina. Dak Prescott completed 14-of-22 passes for 188 yards and four touchdowns. Prescott and Dallas’ offense silenced Carolina’s defense with 433 yards and 7.7 yards per play with zero sacks taken and no turnovers.

Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 143 yards and a TD and cornerback Trevon Diggs had two picks. Elliott, who has 50 rushing touchdowns and 10 touchdown receptions in 75 career games, is the fifth player in NFL history with at least 50 rushing touchdowns and 10 receiving touchdowns in his first 75 career games, joining Hall of Famers Marcus Allen and Jim Brown, as well as Arian Foster and Todd Gurley.

Diggs, who recorded one interception in each of the first three weeks of the season, is the fourth player since 1990 and first Cowboy all-time to record an interception in each of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Devin McCourty (2019), Brian Russell (2003) and Otis Smith (1995).

New York got its first win with a 27-21 OT upset in New Orleans – rallying from down 11 points in the fourth. It was their first victory after overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit of at least 11 points since Sept. 16, 2012, when they trailed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-16, but rallied to win, 41-34.

Daniel Jones completed 28-of-40 passes for 402 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, adding four carries for 27 additional yards. The 400-yard game was the first of third-year pro Jones’ career, and came despite starting WRs Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton sitting with hamstring issues. Jones was credited with his third career victory after the Giants trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter. His previous two were on Sept. 22 and Dec. 22, 2019, when he was a rookie.

Saquon Barkley rushed 13 times for 52 yards and a touchdown, adding five receptions for 74 additional yards and a touchdown. The Giants’ 27 points tied their highest total in a victory under Joe Judge. They defeated Philadelphia, 27-17, on Nov. 15, 2020. The Giants had scored 34 and 29 points in losses the last two seasons.

The Giants had 26 penalties in their first three games, an average of 8.6 penalties per game. On Sunday, the Giants had three in what was a much better showing (and of the three, only one directly impacted a scoring drive.

Packers at Bengals (+3.5)

Green Bay won its third in a row Sunday, 27-17 over Pittsburgh. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers recorded three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) with no interceptions. Rodgers has 420 career touchdown passes, tied with Hall of Famer Dan Marino (420 touchdown passes) for the sixth-most all time. Rodgers has nine straight games with fewer than 300 passing yards — the second-longest streak of career (he once had 12 straight from 2015-16). His last 300-yard game was in Week 11 last year in the OT loss to the Colts.

Randall Cobb caught 5-of-6 targets for 69 yards and two touchdowns. With Marquez Valdes-Scantling (hamstring) out and scheduled to miss at least three games on injured reserve, Cobb is going to play in three-wide sets more regularly after being in on just 26% pf the snaps Weeks 1-3 when he was splitting time with Allen Lazard.

Since a 38-3 letdown against New Orleans in the opener, the Packers have made steady strides defensively over the past month despite the absence of Pro Bowl pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith and cornerback Kevin King. The Steelers scored on the game’s opening drive, as Ben Roethlisberger hit Diontae Johnson on a 45-yard TD pass. But Pittsburgh managed just a field goal on its next seven possessions.

“I was really proud of our defense,” Coach Matt LaFleur said. “Anytime a team has the ball 11 times and they score on three possessions, that’s a pretty good night. I thought the energy was there, the effort was there. I just think our defense is getting better and better and hopefully we can continue that.”

Cincinnati is a surprising 3-1 following 24-21 comeback win last Thursday vs. Jacksonville. Joe Burrow completed 25-of-32 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns. The Bengals took their first lead as time expired in the fourth quarter, with Evan McPherson kicking the game-winning field goal after Burrow found tight end C.J. Uzomah for yet another big play.

Uzomah caught 5-of-6 targets for 95 yards and two touchdowns. With receiver Tee Higgins missing another game with his shoulder issue, Uzomah stepped up as Joe Burrow’s No. 3 passing-game weapon, posting the first two-score effort of his seven-year career and bettering his previous best yardage total by 29.

This will be the sixth visit for Green Bay to Cincinnati and the first since 2013. Each of the last three games at the Bengals have been decided by seven points or less. The Packers are looking for their first victory in Cincinnati since 1998.

Expert picks: Parlay the Giants and Packers